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German travel agents ‘only happy when it rains’

Good weather for ducks - and travel agents. Germany's rainy summer has turned into a windfall for operators offering package holidays in the Mediterranean, it was reported Friday.

German travel agents 'only happy when it rains'
Photo: DPA

In a survey carried out by news agency DAPD, all of Germany’s major travel agents are reporting increased bookings in the past few days. Alltours, TUI, and Thomas Cook say they have had to charter extra flights to meet the demand.

“People are sick of the bad weather,” said Stefan Suska of Alltours, which estimates that the bad weather has boosted summer business by 10 percent. “There are enough hotel beds – the bottle neck is the flights.”

Click here for The Local’s weather forecast

German market leader TUI has a similar tale to tell. “If the summer weather is as bad as it has been this year, then you can set your watch to when the bookings come,” said manager Mario Köpers. The company says its luxury subsidiaries Robinson and Sensimar are doing particularly well.

Because TUI also runs its own airline – TUIfly – it has been better able to react to increased demand.

Thomas Cook has also booked additional flights to Tunisia and Majorca. And there is even good news for Greece – almost all travel agents are reporting more bookings to the crisis-stricken eurozone country, because so many holidays are still available.

But the bad news is that all the best holiday offers have now gone. “If you want to fly now, you better get a move on,” said Christian Weßels of Rewe-Touristik.

Last minute bargains are also few and far between. “Because of the good demand, we hardly have any last-minute offers,” said Köpers.

But maybe someone should have informed the Chinese Olympics team of Germany’s damp climatic conditions. England’s miserable summer weather prompted Chinese athletics star Liu Xiang to leave London and complete his pre-Olympics training in Germany, the China Daily reported on Tuesday.

Coach Sun Haiping said hurdler Liu, who won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 but had to pull out of the Beijing Games, was among a number of athletes who had left London because of the wet weather in the British capital.

The Local/DAPD/AFP/bk

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BUSINESS

Germany’s Playmobil wants to reinvent itself with Swift doll as it turns 50

As Playmobil turns 50, the German company behind the popular plastic figures is hoping that pop megastar Taylor Swift can help it shake off a slump in fortunes.

Germany's Playmobil wants to reinvent itself with Swift doll as it turns 50

Playmobil has in recent years lost ground to rivals, in particular Lego, the world’s number one toymaker whose sales are 10 times greater than those of its German competitor.

The Danish company has been way ahead in the licensing business, boasting Star Wars, Harry Potter and a more recent addition — Barbie — in its portfolio.

READ ALSO: It’s fantastic: Movie boosts world’s top Barbie collection in Düsseldorf

Over at Playmobil, the picture is distinctly less glamourous. Its greatest ever success is a 7.5 cm figure of German Protestant firebrand Martin Luther, 1.3 million of which have been sold.

Things are about to change, Playmobil hopes. Boss Bahri Kurter said contacts have been made with people close to Swift — one of pop music’s most dominant forces — and creative work has started.

“We will see how that develops,” he told AFP, adding that a figure of the US star “would be a huge dream”.

Kurter admitted that Playmobil “started late” in the licensing business.

Turbulent times

But this is far from the only reason the maker of plastic figures — whose headquarters are in Zirndorf, rural Bavaria — has been through a period of turbulence.

Rising energy prices and inflation exacted a heavy toll, as well as lingering supply chain woes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A cost-cutting drive is underway, with about 700 jobs worldwide — almost 20 percent of the workforce — to be axed. Half of the jobs to go are in Germany, as sales fall.

READ ALSO: Crisis-struck maker of Playmobil toys cuts hundreds of jobs

Playmobil’s parent company, the Geobra Brandstaetter Group, had to scramble to reorganise after the death of its founder, Horst Brandstaetter, in 2015. The changes caused tensions with unions, who accused the new management of “trampling” the group’s heritage.

Against this challenging backdrop, Kurter took charge of Playmobil in April last year.

The company traces its roots back to 1908, and in its early years manufactured products like toy telephones and money boxes.

The 1973 energy crisis hit the company hard as the price of oil, and plastic, soared.

Designer Hans Beck was ordered to come up with a new product that used less pricey plastic, and the result was Playmobil.

Crisis-struck German maker of Playmobil toys cut jobs (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

Three models were initially launched — a Native American, a knight and a worker — and proved a hit.

Numerous new characters and accessories have since been introduced, although the company traditionally sought to keep the toys simple, giving youngsters the chance to use their imaginations.

In half a century, more than 3.9 billion figures have been sold worldwide although they are less common in children’s bedrooms than they used to be.

‘Enormous competition’

“The toy market is subject to enormous competition,” particularly nowadays from games on computers or tablets, said Harald Lange, a specialist in educational games at the University of Wuerzburg.

The impact is clear at Playmobil, which has lost a third of its sales among four- to eight-year-olds in the past eight years, according to Kurter.

As well as tie-ups with popular figures like Swift, the company is targeting nostalgic adults and so-called “kidults” — grown-ups who still enjoy playing with toys.

Playmobil is increasing its range of celebrities, and sportsmen and -women to appeal to an older generation.

One such fan is Peter Bischofer, a 57-year-old who became an avid Playmobil collector in his 40s.

Playmobil brings back “childhood memories”, and evokes an era when toys “weren’t as elaborate”, he told AFP.

At his home in Merching, in southern Bavaria, he has collected hundreds of Playmobil models, with a preference for vintage ones. Playmobil prides itself on manufacturing its products in Europe — Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and Malta.

It is also seeking to burnish its sustainability credentials at a time companies face mounting pressure to show they are green.

“The toddler range is moving to 90 percent plant-based raw materials,” said Kurter. “That’s a start.”

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